Slack like a butterfly, study like a bee

By Jeff Kubik

Like the yin and the yang, studying and slacking are two integral components of the same equation. On the one hand, while you’re intelligent enough to enter the wonderful world of post-secondary, you are by means intelligent enough to ignore your readings and drink your days away. On the other hand, you don’t want to spend all your time reading.


Studying

Where should you study? This is an important questions when considering a campus chock full of potential spots. Do you require ambient noise? Do you need absolute silence? Do you need to have people making out in the carrel next to you? These are questions that require answers. Though the best study spots must be found and zealously guarded, there are a few choice locations around campus.


The Law Library

For those with a passion for silence, few areas can beat the Law Library. Situated in the Professional Faculties Building, it is a vast, high-ceilinged monstrosity full of studying carrels (a cross between a desk and a Catholic confessional) and precious, precious silence. In addition to quiet, it also has its own water fountain and bathroom, both integral to effective studying.


MacKimmie Library Tower
Though it’s an obvious choice, and therefore not always a quiet one, it is a classic for a reason. It includes carrels, books, 13 levels of bathrooms and various views of the campus. When all the other students look like ants, what can you do other than succeed?


Faculty Study Areas

They’re pervasive and never quiet, but sometimes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Each faculty building has its own areas devoted to the pursuit of higher learning amidst the yammering of students and the endless shuffling of feet. If a little bit of white noise is a little bit of perfect, then you need to find a desk that opens onto a hallway.


Slacking

It cannot be underestimated, because those who do not understand that everyone needs to take time off are those who end up as campus legends for unsavoury practices. As Gauntlet members, we are each uniquely qualified in this regard.


The Gauntlet and other clubs with excellent lounge areas

It may be shameless self-promotion, but it holds true for almost every club or student society. As a new member of the university, you will soon find that you are not alone in… whatever. History buffs may sit on couches in Social Sciences with other like-minded historians while Magic players congregate outside the Gauntlet’s office. Last-minute adrenaline cannot be had without good reasons for avoiding work and friends are the best excuses there are.


Campus Cove

If you have not already developed a terminal Slurpee addiction, you soon will. Sugar-based ice beverages are part of a university student’s balanced slacking. In addition to providing the widest assortment of syrup flavours on campus, the Cove is also your one-stop arcade destination. From Joust to Time Crisis III, you’ll be able to vent your frustrations without finding yourself on academic probation.


Just relax

From deserted classrooms to the hill surrounding the infamous Prairie Chicken, the University of Calgary is full of places where you can stop and calm your frazzled nerves. Remind yourself that you’re here to have fun as well as learn, and try to laugh at other people’s suffering occasionally, but be sure to wake up now and then and feel the sweet rush of panic, knowing full well that you have already procured a primo study spot as well as a few extracurricular activities to fill the void.